Another large manufacturer moves to Izone

The Moffat Group is replacing its quake-damaged plant and New Zealand head office in Phillipstown with a new purpose-built 15,000m² facility in the Izone Southern Business Hub at Rolleston.

Founded in Christchurch more than 90 years ago, Moffat designs, manufactures and exports a range of commercial food service products and equipment.

The company is joining several other large manufacturers and processors based at Izone, including Designline Bus Pacific, Westland Milk Products and PGG Wrightson Seeds. Moffat’s new facility will be operational by the second half of 2013 and its 175 staff will bring the number of people working at Izone to more than 600.

Manager of Izone’s development Robin Hughes says earthquake damage to Moffat’s premises promoted a rethink, resulting in the decision to move to more stable ground in the west. Such moves are a growing trend for Izone.

“Moffat is the first of several announcements we’ll be making in 2012 as we conclude numerous sales agreements initiated last year following the earthquakes,” Hughes says. “At this stage we can confirm at least six Canterbury companies will be building in Izone this year.”

Already more than 35 companies representing the manufacturing, distribution and agricultural sectors have made Izone home, including The Warehouse, CRT, Solid Energy, and Glass Relate.

At 180 hectares, Izone is New Zealand’s largest industrial development. The business park is owned by Selwyn District Council and managed by Hughes Developments Limited. Robin Hughes says industry is moving to Izone due to its attractive land pricing structure, lower rates and stable ground conditions, recently confirmed by independent geotech investigations.

“The last nine months have been very busy. Only a few of our developed sites remain unsold.

“People are increasingly appreciating that Izone is only 8 minutes from Hornby and that you can have state-of-the-art infrastructure at substantially cheaper prices than in Christchurch.”

He notes a common theme among businesses building in Izone in 2012 is that they are all looking ahead long-term in terms of facilities, ability to expand and access to potential staff.

Izone is situated adjacent to one of New Zealand’s fastest growing towns – Rolleston, which is home to 8,000 residents.

Rolleston and the wider Selwyn district have consistently ranked in New Zealand’s top three fastest growing areas. Christchurch earthquakes have accelerated this population and economic growth, nevertheless these trends are forecast to continue in the medium to long term. This is due to development of several large-scale irrigation schemes and construction of the new Christchurch Southern Motorway, which will terminate at Rolleston, connecting Izone directly to Christchurch and Lyttelton Port via a four-laned motorway.

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Editor’s notes:

Izone was developed by the Selwyn District Council to:

• provide local jobs for Selwyn residents;• ensure the majority of industrial developments are kept to one location;• reduce the number of people commuting to Christchurch for work;• create a source of income to help keep rate increases down.

In the space of 10 years Izone has transformed a dry-land farm into a multi-million dollar industrial estate containing 35 companies employing some 400 people. To date half of Izone’s 180 hectares has been developed and construction of Stage 6 begins this month.

In the last year, Agriseeds and Stevens Seeds built new facilities in Izone and Westland Milk Products and Asmuss have expanded their operations.

Izone’s success has helped Selwyn grow. Between 2000 and 2010 the district grew by 3.9 per cent per year on average, compared with 2.3 per cent average nationally (source: Infometrics).

Selwyn was the fastest growing territorial authority in the country in 2010 (source: BERL).